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Repurposed Sydney brewery boasts a pioneering rooftop power plant

Energy can be sourced from the most unlikely places, as evidenced by this new power plant on top of a repurposed brewery in Sydney. Architecture firm Tzannes designed the new housing and shopping complex, which is dominated by three zinc-clad towers that will provide energy and hot and cold water to over 2,200 apartments. Located on Irving Street, the new complex is called The Brewery Yard, and it may well be the only one of its kind with an actual power plant on its roof.

The project is part of A $2 billion scheme developed by Frasers Property and Sekisui House, which will include shops, a hotel, student housing and a public park. The metallic appearance of the plant contrasts with the existing brewery’s red brick facade.

“The built form of the project needed to provide a memorable expression of this important new technology within the urban context while also meeting the demanding technical requirements of the cooling towers and enhancing the heritage significance of the buildings,” the designers said.

The design firm added, “This project delivers significant community benefits through both the provision of a highly energy efficient method of supplying power as well as hot and cold water to a significant new mixed-use development on the fringes of the city as well as providing a model of how this new technology can be integrated with an important historic structure.”